Accenture chief takes up public challenge

Governments - often seen as conservative and slow-moving when it comes to big information technology projects and plans - are actually more nimble than many large private sector organisations.

Just look at how much they are spending and on which types of projects, says Mr Marty Cole, Accenture's global head of government services, who was in Dublin last week on one of his regular visits to the Irish practice. Of the five industry group divisions within Accenture, government services is the fastest-growing section, turning over $2 billion (€1.52 billion) in the last fiscal year, he says.

The kinds of projects in which Mr Cole's division is involved include the overhaul of the British National Health Service - which will see major investment in a new, interlinked computerised patient care system - and the US government's massive new border control programme under the so-called US VISIT scheme, which will bring in cutting-edge biometric and analysis technologies.

Where does a consultancy such as Accenture begin when faced with a massive project such as the complete reorganisation of the UK health service?

"Trying to tackle healthcare delivery is enormous. So instead, we focus on how to tackle pieces of that," he says.

For example, by beginning with streamlining the patient records system, doctors can more easily share and find information which, in turn, streamlines the overall scheduling system.

"We want to get the focus on treating patients, not looking at files and searching for information," he says.

In the UK, the health services have been split into five regional services. Each will develop its own technology for managing records, but the technology will be built around standards that will allow information to flow into a "spine" linking all the regional services, says Mr Cole.

Far from working slowly towards an overall goal, Mr Cole suggests that the plan of attack is more pragmatic and results-driven.

"We look to where we can have quick wins, and the scale of it," he says. "But you have to have the overall vision."

Not that working with governments is an ideal environment: "What happens too often is that government embarks on a large project without any certainty of where they're going," he sighs.

With the VISIT programme, the US government knows what it wants: a "smart border system" that can handle the millions of visitors and returning citizens that cross into the US at land, air and sea entry points.

Accenture is at the envisioning stage, "working with them to see what that will look like".

Winning this kind of major project requires a careful pitch - first putting out a very broad proposal, then assembling a team of partner companies.

"They could be companies normally seen as our competitors, or perhaps a niche hardware supplier. We look for them to bring qualifications, and that's the team that gets us to the table," says Mr Cole. "It covers everything."

Accenture then builds the project and the delivery, and serves as the overall integrator to bring together the various pieces of a project, he says.

The company has done some work in the Republic on large Government projects - Revenue's online tax-filing system, for example, which has achieved "the ultimate form of recognition", he says - customer use.

The online system accounted for 10 per cent of national returns in its first year, 40 per cent last year and is expected to hit 50 per cent this year.

Other countries have been looking at the system and, under agreement, the Government gets a royalty payment any time the system model is used elsewhere, notes Mr Cole.

He also points out that "the Irish practice has been among our leadership globally".

Ms Vivienne Jupp, former head of the Irish Information Society Commission, is Accenture's international expert on reusing capabilities across government, while Mr Seán Shine from the Irish practice is responsible for Accenture's government operations in Ireland, the UK and Canada.

Shared services - where multiple organisations share a pool of services, often for back-office processing - is an area of growing customer interest and, again, offers an Irish role in Accenture's global operations.

The Republic's strong share of the international shared services market has meant Accenture based its internal European shared services operation in Dublin. Employing 350 people, the centre handles Accenture's European accounting, payroll and procurement office work.

However, government work is not quite the same as partnering with private sector industry, Mr Cole accepts. "Serving government does present unique challenges. The work you do is subject to public scrutiny. There's also a public procurement process, so value for money is highly scrutinised as governments have to justify the amount they are spending," he says.

"But, at the same time, there's a greater willingness to share ideas.Governments aren't in competition, whereas in the private sector a particular IT solution provides a competitive advantage."

While there is a strong drive to achieve cost savings, they aren't taken out as increased profit, Mr Cole notes, but reapplied either through greater purchasing power or further services.

"There's also a misperception that things move more quickly in the private sector, But companies have to do due diligence, they are under increased financial scrutiny, and so on," he says.

"The one area around government that would be most appropriate to change would be the ability to work on broad-ranging strategy, and to implement it," Mr Cole says. "Sometimes there's the idea that it's better to slice strategy into small pieces. One of the key drivers for success, in the public or private sector, is the ability to provide a trusted delivery of service. But when you parcel it all up, you no longer have continuity."

What about the Irish healthcare system and its need of a total overhaul?

There's a good vision on integrated care and the role technology can play, he says. "The trick is to try and integrate it in a pragmatic way."